Mrs. Mansfield. Not until it has been further prepared by the bees, who swallow it, and then throw it up again, after having digested it in their stomachs.
Charles. Bees make wax too, do not they?
Mrs. Mansfield. Yes: come to this bed of flowers, and you will see them at work.
“I observe,” said Arthur, after having watched them attentively for some time, “that they every moment stroke their legs over one another; is that of any use?”
Mrs. Mansfield. It is in order to put the yellow dust, which they collect from the flowers, and of which the wax is made, upon their hinder thighs: a few short hairs on them form a kind of basket, on purpose to receive it. When they have collected as much as they can carry, they fly back to the hive to deposit it there.
Arthur. And what use do they make of it, grandmamma?
Mrs. Mansfield. After having kneaded and properly prepared it, they make it into the honey-comb, or little cells which contain the honey; and when the cells are full, the bees stop them up with a little more wax, to preserve it as food for the winter.
Arthur. Then how do we get it?
Mrs. Mansfield. The hive is held over brimstone, which kills the bees, and then we take out the honey-combs. Some people adopt a method of taking the honey without destroying the bees; but I do not know whether that is less cruel in the end; for the poor things are then frequently starved in the winter, for want of their proper food.
Arthur. Have not I heard something about a queen-bee?